The Tánaiste has said that applications for the summer programme for children with complex educational needs will be reopened.
Simon Harris confirmed that the portal to apply for places will be open again soon.
He said this was a crucial support for children with additional needs and ten of thousands availed of it last year.
Mr Harris agreed that there is a need for a longer period to apply for applications.
Schools are likely to be contacted today and the portal will open next week.
The programme, which is also known as July Provision, allows schools to offer a summer scheme for students with complex special educational needs and those at risk of educational disadvantage.
Mr Harris was responding to Sinn Féin's Pearse Doherty who said there had been an "unreasonably tight deadline" this year.
Mr Doherty said that parents had been lying awake at night worrying about what would happen to their children this summer.
Dáil not told how many waiting for special class place
The Department of Education has declined to tell the Dáil how many children are still without places in special and additional needs classes, amid opposition claims that hundreds of children are without an offer and thousands are in an inappropriate school place.
Speaking during a Dáil debate this morning, Sinn Féin's education spokesperson Darren O'Rourke and Social Democrats education spokesperson Jen Cummins both asked for an update on the situation.
However, despite the requests, Minister of State with responsibility for special education Michael Moynihan declined to provide the figures, instead outlining how many places have been sanctioned.
Responding to an initial request for the information from Deputy O’Rourke, Minister Moynihan said that by 1 October last year the department had received 7,860 notifications for places.
He said of this group around 7,000 have received a diagnosis of autism, while the remaining places relate to children with a range of other diagnoses.
However, when asked, Minister Moynihan did not confirm how many children and teenagers are still waiting for a place.
Responding to the situation, Deputy O’Rourke said he is concerned the department has not provided the information, and that he believes "hundreds of children are without an offer and thousands of children are in an inappropriate school place".
After a similar question from Social Democrats education spokesperson Jen Cummins went unanswered, Deputy Cummins similarly said the number of children waiting for these placements should be made public every month in the same way as homelessness figures are made available.
Deputy Cummins said: "The question still remains, how many children have yet to get a placement?"
